JackBludis.com

WELCOME
to the JACK BLUDIS WEBSITE

Updated March
2014

Jack's
Schedule:BOUCHERCON, LONG BEACH, CA -- November 13-16, 2014

Click on any image for
information about writing, Hollywood or Jack.

I was a part
time writer for twenty-years before 1998. From 1998 to 2004 I was writing
full time. After the birth of my first grandson, I became his full-time,
day-care provider. To do that job right, leaves little time for writing but
we are seeing some of the results particularly with his advanced reading
and math skills. The mothers here and perhaps a few of the fathers may
understand the effort it takes to get that particular job done right. It
leaves a bit of stress at the end of the day, and I was not able to give my
writing the same concentration of the prior six years.

I did write in
easier genres using any of perhaps 20 by-lines. No offense to other genres,
but I believe the writing of mysteries requires a higher degree of
concentration than other genres and even more effort in self-editing.

Another thing
that happened was that I tried to build my own website. It was a big
mistake. A good website requires a professional maven, and I returned to
Elizabeth who served me so well before I tried it on my own.

Since I am no
longer working my day-care gig, I have had more time for my mysteries which
include publication of The Last Sellout, which will wrap up the
trilogy I began with The Big Switch and The Deal Killer.
Sellout will soon be a trade paperback. I have also published a 23,000
word novella, Dirty Work and a volume of short stories, that
include my Shamus and Anthony nominated "Munchies" and many other
previously published mysteries. My new publisher has also reissued my
Shamus nominated novel, Shadow of the Dahlia in both e-book and
trade paper formats.

I am
concentrating on mysteries, but I kid no one. I am more craftsman than an
artist, I don't write literary fiction. I put one word after another. I
rearrange the words for sense, cadence, plot effect, stealth and meaning. I
have always done that, but usually with novels in the 50,000 to 60,000 word
range.

I have stories
and novels in the pipeline that I hope to see published soon. I am again
becoming a regular contributor to DorothyL, WickedCompany,
and 4_MysteryAddicts. The last two are Yahoo lists.

Many people
asked that I put some of my ideas about writing in a non-fiction work, but
there are by now hundreds of writers who either do the same thing on their
website or have written books about it. I have even "sold" such a book to a
defunct publisher, and I may put that up for public scrutiny when I have
time. Most of those writers know at least something about writing, but few
are totally off-base. Among those How-to people that I agree with
virtually 100% are Stephen King, G. Miki Hayden, Hallie Ephron, John
Gardiner, RV Cassill, and Jack Woodford. The last two, are definitely out
of print.

Under "Bio
& Assorted Stuff" you can see my Writing Tips, which include what I
as well as many others believe to be, "The Basic Plot."